How to take better travel photos

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How to take better travel photos

Lots of free time, good food and interesting people – for many, a trip is the perfect opportunity to finally get back into photography. But do you sometimes also wonder why the pictures don’t really reflect the atmosphere you felt at your destination? The colours look drab, the faces are too dark, and the buildings seem crooked. In this article, we’ll show you three typical photo problems – and tell you how they can easily be avoided.

Problem 1: Dark shadows on faces

In holiday portraits, faces often look distorted. Eye sockets are dark, and there are odd black shadows under noses. This is because of the glaring sunlight which causes extreme shadows. The solution: Photograph people in the shade, where the light is softer. Use the reflections off pale walls to brighten up the remaining shadows in the eyes. You can also use an integrated pop-up flash to do this.

Problem 2: Converging lines

Photographs of tourist attractions can often look rather odd. The buildings seem to be caving in and don’t appear as they should. This is due to perspective distortion, which results in “converging lines”. This is inevitable when photographing a large building close-up with a wide angle. The solution: Try to snap the building from further away. There may even be a mountain nearby or a taller building from which you can look down and take the photo. Have a look at photos in travel brochures and try to find out where the photographer took the shot from.

Problem 3: Drab sunset

Sunset photos can turn out rather drab. The colours look a lot cooler than they actually were. This is due to an incorrect white balance, whereby the camera automatically corrects and neutralises the excessively warm colours. The solution: Turn off the automatic white balance and instead select the “Daylight” default settings. “Cloudy” will emphasise the warm effect even more. The alternative to this is to shoot in RAW mode and adjust the white balance on the computer.

If you follow these three tips, we guarantee you’ll come back from your next trip with some impressive images. Give it a try!

Want even more tips? Then keep your eye out for the Tamron newsletter. In each issue, we’ll be revealing the top tricks for constantly improving your photos one step at a time.